East TN medical clinics see increase in flu patients

Some East Tennessee medical clinics said they are seeing more patients complaining of flu-like symptoms.

The Summit Express Clinic in Fountain City receives more than 40 patients a day. Nurse practitioners Paromita Yunsan and Sarah LeVan said about 40 percent of those people claim they have flu-like symptoms.

"We are seeing a lot of people who have not been vaccinated," Yunsan said.

LeVan said that is something she has noticed as well.

"Some people don't like to get vaccinated because they think in years' past they've had a reaction or the shot has actually made them sick," she said.

For more information on getting a flu shot, call the Knox County Health Department at 865-215-5000 or click here.

Dr. Bob Overholt of the Allergy, Asthma and Sinus Center said it's too early to specifically pinpoint how bad the flu season will be here in East Tennessee. However, he did say this year's particular flu strain, H3N2, could be particularly hard on the people who receive it.

"This may be one of those years where it is one of the bad flu epidemics," he said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the last time the flu started this early, was in 2003.

The CDC says people at high risk for developing flu-related complications fall under the following categories:

Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old